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Elly Roberts reviews
Sony Music
- Year: 2004
- Rating: 7/10
- Cat. No: 5163669
Track listing:
Disc 1:
- 1. I Want You Back
2. ABC
3. The Love You Save
4. I’ll Be There
5. Mama’s Pearl
6. Never Can Say Goodbye
7. Sugar Daddy
8. Dancing Machine
9. Lookin’ Through the Windows
10. Doctor My Eyes
11. Ain’t No Sunshine
12. Got To Be There
13. Rockin’ Robin
14. Ben
15. One Day In Your Life
16. Farewell My Summer Love
Disc 2:
- 1. Can You Feel It
2. Blame it on the Boogie
3. Enjoy Yourself
4. Show You the Way To Go
5. Dreamer
6. Even Though You’re Gone
7. Goin’ Places
8. Torture
9. Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)
10. Lovely One
11. This Place Hotel
12. Walk Right Now
13. State of Shock
14. 2300 Jackson Street
15. Nothing (The Compares 2 U) (Video)
16. Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough (Live from 1981 US Tour)
Eight years in the making,this comprehensive chronology charts the Jackson familys prolific hits.A brand new double CD set comprising 32 tracks it covers their progressionfrom teeny boppers into world wide sellers as a group and individuals.
It brings together for the first time all the Jackson brothers greatest hitsin the same collection. Having reportedly sold over 100 million records since1970, as their reign began with I Want You Back (UK No.2) which opens CD 1,with an 11-year-old Michael Jackson singing his heart out. They wereundoubtedly the first Boy Band , and it seems almost inconceivable thatMotown would have taken such a risk on teenagers, but it paid off.
Eventually, their radio – friendly catchy hooks and funky beats swept acrossthe globe and rejuvenated Tamla Motowns repertoire with an un stoppablesequence of anthemic dance tracks – ABC, Can You Feel It, Shake Your Bodyand Doctor My Eyes, as they paraded their wares in neatly choreographedroutines, along with some outlandish stage costumes. Tender ballads like Ben(apparently about a pet rat), Aint No Sunshine and Got To Be Therecomplimented their disco repertoire.
Early songs were penned by luminaries such as Berry Gordy Jnr, Freddie Perrin,Hal Davies, Bill Withers and Don Black. The brothers came into their own lateron, as did Michael himself, but failed to capture the publics imagination withouthim. Youll immediately recognise most of them, with most of their work beinga staple diet of wedding parties. Some of these songs are still in demand inselective nightclubs around the nation. Theyve stood the test of time beautifully,which rubber stamps the golden age of Motown and beyond, as they developed theirown identities and voices.
Listening to Michaels voice 30 years on, it does grate quite a bit. Thankfully,by the end of disc one, it starts to mature. Weakest tracks – Enjoy Yourself, Dreamer, Even Though Youre Gone, Torture and an over-zealouslive Dont Stop Til You Get Evough from 1981.
Doesnt include Michaels latter-day hits: Billie Jean, Beat It, Thriller etc.
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.